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Knowledge Engineering: Unifying Knowledge Base and Database Design (Artificial Intelligence)

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Knowledge Engineering: Unifying Knowledge Base and Database Design (Artificial Intelligence)
John Debenham
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

This systematic and detailed monograph describes a design methodology for knowledge-based systems. Such systems contain knowledge as well as information and data. The information and data can be modeled and implemented as a database. The knowledge can be implemented either in a programming language or in an expert systems shell. The methodology has two special features: It is unified, i.e., it represents the data, information, and knowledge in a homogeneous manner, as well as the relationships between them. Also, it builds a maintenance mechanism into the design. A special benefit of the book is its thorough treatment of constraints for knowledge and for knowledge-based systems. Presenting the material in both a formal and a practical way, it is intended for practitioners as well as researchers and advanced students.

Mathematical Techniques in Multisensor Data Fusion (Artech House Information Warfare Library)

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This is the most complete data fusion reference available.

Mathematical Techniques in Multisensor Data Fusion (Artech House Information Warfare Library)
David L. Hall , and Sonya A. H. McMullen
Manufacturer: Artech House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

Handbook of Multisensor Data Fusion (Electrical Engineering & Applied Signal Processing)
Sensor and Data Fusion: A Tool for Information Assessment and Decision Making (SPIE Press Monograph Vol. PM138)
Beyond the Kalman Filter: Particle Filters for Tracking Applications (Artech House Radar Library)
Design and Analysis of Modern Tracking Systems (Artech House Radar Library)
Estimation with Applications to Tracking and Navigation

ASIN: 1580533353

Book Description

Since the publication of the first edition of this groundbreaking book, advances in algorithms, logic, and software tools have transformed the field of data fusion. The latest edition covers these areas as well as smart agents, human computer interaction, cognitive aides to analysis, and data system fusion control.

Besides aiding you in selecting the appropriate algorithm for implementing a data fusion system, this book guides you through the process of determining the trade-offs among competing data fusion algorithms, selecting commercial off the shelf (COTS) tools, and understanding when data fusion improves systems processing. Completely new chapters in this second edition explain data fusion system control, DARPA's recently developed TRIP model, and the latest applications of data fusion in data warehousing and medical equipment, as well as defense systems.

Customer Reviews:

This is the most complete data fusion reference available........1999-03-20

This is a well written reference book that clearly describes the mathematical aspects of multisensor data fusion. It can be used effectively by experts and those who are just beginning to explore this technology. The book includes clear figures, tables, and equations and features an exhaustive list of references for further study. I highly recommend this book as a first step to understanding this technology and its impacts.

Building Expert Systems (Teknowledge series in knowledge engineering)

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Building Expert Systems (Teknowledge series in knowledge engineering)
Frederick Hayes-Roth
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Pub (Sd)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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A Guide to Expert Systems (Teknowledge Series in Knowledge Engineering)
Expert Systems: Principles and Programming, Fourth Edition: Principles and Programming

ASIN: 0201106868

Engineering of Mind: An Introduction to the Science of Intelligent Systems

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Some interesting proposals for building intelligent machines
A Profoundly Important Book

Engineering of Mind: An Introduction to the Science of Intelligent Systems
James S. Albus
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
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Binding: Hardcover

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Intelligent Systems: Architecture, Design, Control

ASIN: 0471438545

Book Description

Presenting a reference model architecture for the design of intelligent systems
Engineering of Mind presents the foundations for a computational theory of intelligence. It discusses the main streams of investigation that will eventually converge in a scientific theory of mind and proposes an avenue of research that might best lead to the development of truly intelligent systems.
This book presents a model of the brain as a hierarchy of massive parallel computational modules and data structures interconnected by information pathways. Using this as the basic model on which intelligent systems should be based, the authors propose a reference model architecture that accommodates concepts from artificial intelligence, control theory, image understanding, signal processing, and decision theory. Algorithms, procedures, and data embedded within this architecture would enable the analysis of situations, the formulation of plans, the choice of behaviors, and the computation of uncertainties. The computational power to implement the model can be achieved in practical systems in the foreseeable future through hierarchical and parallel distribution of computational tasks.
The authors' reference model architecture is expressed in terms of the Real-time Control System (RCS) that has been developed primarily at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Suitable for engineers, computer scientists, researchers, and students, Engineering of Mind blends current theory and practice to achieve a coherent model for the design of intelligent systems.

Customer Reviews:

Some interesting proposals for building intelligent machines.......2004-08-26

The authors of this book are very ambitious in their goals, for in the book they attempt to outline in some detail how to design a machine that is not only intelligent but can function in more than one domain. A machine that could not only beat the world champion at chess but could also create food recipes would be an example of a machine that can think in more than one domain. Certainly one would view such a machine as intelligent, at least from a qualitative standpoint, without having an explicit way of measuring intelligence.

The authors actually define intelligence as an ability to behave appropriately in an uncertain environment, i.e. an entity that is intelligent will engage in behavior that maximizes the likelihood of success in the achievement of its goals. With this definition, they hope to capture the intelligence of many different entities, both biological and otherwise. Intelligence is not to be defined as an either/or proposition, but instead is graded, and there are many examples of it in systems in the real world, both natural and man-made. Intelligence can therefore exist in degrees, these being determined by the computational power and memory capacity of the brain of the machine, the processes the machine uses for obtaining data from the environment, and the quality of the data stored in memory. Different levels of intelligence, the authors believe, produce different probabilities of success in achieving goals. They do not give explicit examples of how these probabilities vary with the levels however. It would be very interesting to see these examples worked out in detail, for it would give the reader a more quantitative (and useful) notion of "machine IQ."

One area of discussion that particularly stands out in the book deals with knowledge representation. Instead of representing everything symbolically via logical theorems, expert system rules, or linguistic grammars, the authors explicitly reject the symbol manipulation systems and instead want to represent knowledge using images or maps. This is interesting because of the high computational demands placed on a machine in performing image processing. The authors are aware of this, and so propose using parallel computation in the image and map domains combined with doing analysis in time and frequency space. This is to be done in a "multilevel architecture of dynamic recursive loops." Most of the book is devoted to explaining how to engineer this architecture. Heavy use is made of control theory to do this.

The authors recognize that much remains unknown about the nature of intelligent behavior, but that the concept of a "goal" is central to ascribing intelligence to an entity. The greater the intelligence of an entity the more ingenious the entity is in dealing with unexpected events or challenges, and predicting the future is an ability possessed by the most intelligent entities. The rather extreme view of intelligence as expressed in this last statement is of course a logical consequence of the author's assertions. Needless to say, no example of an entity that can predict the future is given in the book.

Since goal seeking is an essential characteristic of an intelligent machine, then the machine has to be able to make plans in order to reach its goals. The authors outline discuss two approaches to implementing a planning architecture. One of these is computationally expensive and involves frequently replanning, in order to deal with unpredictability of the environment. The other approach is to use feedback from sensors in order that the planned actions can be modified as needed. The authors outline several different heuristics that could be used to search for plans, and settle on a notion of `hierarchical multiresolutional planning'. This type of planning involves partitioning the planning process into hierarchical layers so that the search space is effectively reduced at each level of the planning hierarchy.

In order for the authors to convince the reader that their efforts will be fruitful in designing an intelligent machine, they devote over two-thirds of the book to the real-world construction of such a machine. This is done by first discussing a reference model architecture, called RCS (for Real-Time Control System), that expresses their computational model of intelligence. The believe that the RCS architecture will allow the eventual design of intelligent machines that can meet specified requirements. Again, their project is very ambitious, due to the many capabilities that the RCS architecture must have. Without observing the machine actually working it would be difficult to verify whether or not they authors have succeeded in their goals. They do however give detailed explanations of the architecture, including line drawings and relevant mathematics, making their approach seem highly plausible. In addition, they give examples involving unmanned military ground vehicles that illustrate the principles they have outlined.

The last chapter of the book is a look toward the future, and the authors, like all others who work in artificial intelligence, feel obligated to address the anxiety felt by some regarding the development of intelligent machines. Hollywood and popular literature is replete with examples of malevolent machines bent on the destruction of humankind or at least taking employment opportunities away from humans. The authors though remain refreshingly optimistic and rightfully dismiss these Hollywood/literary fantasies. They argue well for the productivity gains and positive social impact of intelligent machines. One can confidently look forward to the presence of millions of artificial intelligent machines in the twenty-first century, some of the architectures of which may be similar to the ones that are delineated in this book.

A Profoundly Important Book.......2001-12-23

Engineering of Mind is a fresh and exciting vision of the emerging science of machine intelligence. It begins with a readable introduction to the scientific analysis of the mind and brain. It then presents an overview of current research in the neurosciences, artificial intelligence, control theory, and robotics, and suggests an engineering approach to the design of intelligent machines. Finally, it addresses the scientific, economic, military, and human implications of a creating a new species of intelligent creatures. This is a seminal work of great importance.

Knowledge Engineering and Management: The CommonKADS Methodology

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A methodology good at the micro-level biz process reuse
Knowledge Engineering and Management

Knowledge Engineering and Management: The CommonKADS Methodology
Guus Schreiber , Hans Akkermans , Anjo Anjewierden , Robert deHoog , Nigel Shadbolt , Walter VandeVelde , and Bob Wielinga
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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CommonKADS Library for Expertise Modelling, Reusable Problem Solving Components (Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, 21)
Enterprise Ontology: Theory and Methodology
Model Driven Architecture and Ontology Development
Ontological Engineering: with examples from the areas of Knowledge Management, e-Commerce and the Semantic Web. First Edition (Advanced Information and Knowledge Processing)
The Power of Events: An Introduction to Complex Event Processing in Distributed Enterprise Systems

ASIN: 0262193000

Book Description

The disciplines of knowledge engineering and knowledge management are closely tied. Knowledge engineering deals with the development of information systems in which knowledge and reasoning play pivotal roles. Knowledge management, a newly developed field at the intersection of computer science and management, deals with knowledge as a key resource in modern organizations. Managing knowledge within an organization is inconceivable without the use of advanced information systems; the design and implementation of such systems pose great organization as well as technical challenges.

The book covers in an integrated fashion the complete route from corporate knowledge management, through knowledge analysis and engineering, to the design and implementation of knowledge-intensive information systems. The CommonKADS methodology, developed over the last decade by an industry-university consortium led by the authors, is used throughout the book. CommonKADS makes as much use as possible of the new UML notation standard. Beyond information systems applications, all software engineering and computer systems projects in which knowledge plays an important role stand to benefit from the CommonKADS methodology.

Customer Reviews:

A methodology good at the micro-level biz process reuse.......2000-11-18

The book provides a object-oriented methodology variation utilizing the project management concepts. The method per se is not new, but the application steps and implications involved provide framework and model to start a knowledge system development in organizations. But the terms in the book sometimes causes confusion.

Knowledge Engineering and Management.......2000-05-19

Very good introduction to CommonKADS. Reviews the methodology, its principles and drivers.

Rough Set Methods and Applications: New Developments in Knowledge Discovery in Information Systems (Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing)

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Rough Set Methods and Applications: New Developments in Knowledge Discovery in Information Systems (Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing)

Manufacturer: Physica-Verlag Heidelberg
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Rough Sets

ASIN: 3790813281

Book Description

Rough set approach to reasoning under uncertainty is based on inducing knowledge representation from data under constraints expressed by discernibility or, more generally, similarity of objects. Knowledge derived by this approach consists of reducts, decision or association rules, dependencies, templates, or classifiers. This monograph presents the state of the art of this area. The reader will find here a deep theoretical discussion of relevant notions and ideas as well as rich inventory of algorithmic and heuristic tools for knowledge discovery by rough set methods. An extensive bibliography will help the reader to get an acquaintance with this rapidly growing area of research.

Expert Systems and Probabilistic Network Models (Monographs in Computer Science)

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Expert Systems and Probabilistic Network Models (Monographs in Computer Science)
Enrique Castillo , Jose M. Gutierrez , and Ali S. Hadi
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0387948589

Book Description

Artificial intelligence and expert systems have seen a great deal of research in recent years, much of which has been devoted to methods for incorporating uncertainty into models. This book is devoted to providing a thorough and up-to-date survey of this field for researchers and students.

Signal Processing for Intelligent Sensor Systems (Signal Processing (Marcel Dekker, Inc.), 4.)

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Signal Processing for Intelligent Sensor Systems (Signal Processing (Marcel Dekker, Inc.), 4.)
David C. Swanson
Manufacturer: CRC
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0824799429

Book Description

"Integrates a broad range of physics, algorithms, and sensing techniques for development of intelligent systems. Highlights adaptive least-squared error modeling. Covers complex sampling, physical system modeling using digital filters, frequency domain processing, beamforming, and much more."

Managing Knowledge: A Practical Web-Based Approach (Addison-Wesley Information Technology Series)

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Action Plan for Managing Knowledge
Good but not great
A very good and concise treatment
It Really Is "A Practical Web-Based Approach"
Hits the mark - One of the few practical treatments ...

Managing Knowledge: A Practical Web-Based Approach (Addison-Wesley Information Technology Series)
Wayne Applehans , Alden Globe , and Greg Laugero
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Killer Content: Strategies for Web Content and E-Commerce
Web Security, Privacy and Commerce, 2nd Edition
Knowledge Management for the Information Professional (Asis Monograph Series)
If Only We Knew What We Know: The Transfer of Internal Knowledge and Best Practice
The Knowledge Management Toolkit: Orchestrating IT, Strategy, and Knowledge Platforms (2nd Edition)

ASIN: 020143315X

Amazon.com

For those responsible for future corporate strategies on the Web, the challenge of fully harnessing all of an enterprise's information is extremely humbling. Managing Knowledge: A Practical Web-Based Approach is an inspiring title designed to keep you motivated while you plan your information strategy.

The authors quickly evangelize the concept of the "information economy" and explain that for businesses to be competitive, it is imperative that they leverage institutional information and empower in-house decision making. In an easy-to-read style punctuated by encouraging quotes, the authors describe the process of profiling the way people inside and outside your organization work and structuring your overall plan around knowledge and process rather than just technology. This book is aimed at corporate environments and emphasizes the importance of managing personnel as well as information.

Throughout the book, sections titled "Case in Point" and "Why Is It Important?" provide real-world examples of important concepts and help maintain clarity during discussions of big-picture ideas.

The book wraps up with a checklist for a 90-day action plan to demonstrate feasibility on a small scale. Whether you're looking for a starting point for retooling an enterprise information strategy or trying to sell the higher-ups on the concept, this brief title delivers straight talk. --Stephen W. Plain

Book Description

Building and maintaining a successful corporate Intranet and Extranet goes well beyond developing the network and setting up Web servers. After the network is in place, then what? Managing Knowledge is the first practical guide to using knowledge management techniques to ensure that your Intranet and Extranet deliver the right content to the right people at the right time. Based on the authors' experience developing J.D. Edwards' Intranet and Extranet, this book contains examples and helpful tips on how to get started with a web-based knowledge management initiative. The book clearly explains how to decide what content to include on your site and how to create a "knowledge architecture" for your organization. Managing Knowledge concludes with a list of steps that you can take in the next 90 days to get your KM project off the ground.

Customer Reviews:

Action Plan for Managing Knowledge.......2001-11-27

"Managing Knowledge - A Practical Web-Based Approach" is an easy to read and apply guidebook for a complicated process. The book breaks down the daunting task of getting the "right knowledge, to the right people at the right time" so you can get started in applying knowledge management. This practical guide to implementing knowledge management techniques can be used on one process or an entire organization. Though, the authors do recommend picking one process/cycle to begin the implementation process.
The authors are straight forward in explaining that the nature of their book is not to explain knowledge management. It is assumed that you have read other books on knowledge management prior to using this guide. I found the book was well written enough that you really just needed some basic understanding of knowledge management, along with the foresight and desire to improve the formation and flow of data, information and knowledge. The book's subtitle states "a practical web-based approach", yet many principals of this book can be used in non web- based applications. Before I finished the book, I was convinced that my organization should implement the needed changes for managing knowledge, and that my organization would benefit greatly from retooling its self for the information economy. The authors should have included a quick reference page for the numerous abbreviations that were used. Some of the abbreviations may have another meaning in other industries.

Good but not great.......2001-01-20

This book had some good aspects but I kept feeling it wasn't very deep.

A very good and concise treatment.......2000-04-22

It may not give you any insights. In many places it will look just like plain common sense. It is also weak on the technical architecture side. But it is concise, printed nicely, clear, and focused. And it will make you wonder why other books can't just be like that.

It Really Is "A Practical Web-Based Approach".......2000-01-25

The authors are quite specific when explaining for whom Managing Knowledge has been written: "This book is for those people who have read some of the academic literature on KM [Knowledge Management] and who (along with their bosses) are convinced that they need to go down this path....Our purpose is not to address the nature of knowledge. Rather, we want to help you get the right information to the right people so that they can take effective action....Everything we say in this book assumes that you are (or are going to be) leveraging Web-based technologies to move data, information, and knowledge." Their purposes could not be clearer.The book is divided into four sections:

Part One: Getting Started (Strategy and Profiling People)

Part Two: Organizing Around Information (Storyboarding Knowledge and Mapping the Knowledge Network)

Part Three: Knowledge Architecture (Hiring People, Mobilizing Content, and Building the Technical Architecture)

Part Four: The Ninety-Day Action Plan

This book provides both the structural design and the operations manual needed by any organization to achieve these objectives:

1. To evaluate the information it now has

2. To identify the information it needs...but does not (as yet) have

3. To formulate a Web-based system to manage knowledge more effectively

4. To set in place those best qualified to manage that system

5. To facilitate and encourage knowledge sharing throughout the organization

In Part Four, the authors wisely recommend that an organization choose a single business cycle that can be improved and begin the "Ninety-Day Action Plan" with a knowledge audit; next, begin building a core team and select an appropriate technology (or technologies); then during Day 61-Day 90, explain your team's efforts throughout the organization ("to communicate the benefits of a KM system and to sell the concept of the knowledge architecture") while constantly updating the content under management.

Given its stated purposes, I rate this book very highly. It is well-organized, well-written, and comprehensive in terms of material covered. Contrary to what some reviewers may suggest, I think it provides the knowledge needed to manage knowledge effectively. If your organization has the aforementioned five objectives and has not as yet achieved them, I suggest that its key executives read this book immediately and then launch a collaborative effort to implement the "Ninety-Day Action Plan." Why wait?

Hits the mark - One of the few practical treatments ..........2000-01-09

A Review and Synopsis of Managing Knowledge - A Practical Web-Based Approach by Wayne Applehans, Alden Globe, and Greg Laugero

In knowldgWORKS News Volume 1 Number 12 KnowBits pointed you to a series of World Wide Web links on the Microsoft Web Site. The links consisted of a series of case studies offered by Microsoft as examples of how their technology could be used as the basis of knowledge management efforts. Most of the case studies had very little to do with knowledge management, but quite a bit to do with Microsoft technology. One of the case studies distinguished itself. This was the case study describing the knowledge management effort at J.D. Edwards. The description of the effort was so rich that I sprang for the book by the people responsible for the work at J.D. Edwards.

My overall opinion: BUY THIS BOOK !

Without equivocation this book is the best compact description of what knowledge management is about. The book consists of practical information and advice about conducting a knowledge management effort. It is short, to the point, and has lots of great diagrams. Here is a synopsis.

This book begins with a series of assumptions. They are as follows:

Assumption 1: (my favorite) "Knowledge management does not have to be profound." Assumption 2: You have a champion and are figuring out how to get started. Assumption 3: Document management concepts, technologies, and procedures provide the basic disciplines to kick off a successful effort. Assumption 4: Yours is a mid to large size company with an intranet and extranet and an internet presence. Assumption 5: Your business is consciously preparing for the internet economy.

The parameters of the discussion are clearly set forth by these assumptions. But consider that even if you don't meet all of the assumption criteria, the information contained in this book is still extremely valuable.

One of the challenges of any knowledge management effort is explaining why your organization might want to do knowledge management. Consider adopting these reasons :

1. Ease of partnering 2. Ease of managing expertise turnover 3. Ease of decentralizing decision-making

Each of these reasons represents a competitive imperative.

Any book about knowledge management needs to define the term. Remember my own definition goes, "Knowledge Management is the process of controlling, using, manipulating, and communicating that which enables us to do things." Consider the authors's definition of knowledge.

"Knowledge is the ability to turn information and data into effective action."

The authors go on to say this is a tactical definition "because they are not interested in esoteric debates about the nature of epistemology." (Hooray ! )

With regard to managing knowledge, Applehans et al give the following definition.

"managing knowledge means delivering the information and data people need to be effective in their jobs."

This book does not mince words. It tries to keep things fairly simple and straightforward. The authors represent the trichotemy of data, information and knowledge as a pyramid consisting of data at the base, information in the middle and knowledge at the top. Interpreting this figure, one can infer the relationship between data, information and knowledge fairly easily.

The book is divided into four parts and several chapters. Part one, "Getting Started", focuses on strategy and profiling people. Part 2 creates the basis for relating knowledge to the business and covers storyboarding the knowledge and designing the organization around the knowledge it uses.

Part three deals with the topics, "Hiring People," "Modeling Content," and "Building the Technical Architecture."

Lastly part four presents a 90 day action plan.

One of the most interesting parts of the book is in part two where business process is attached to the informational needs and people involved in the process. What this breakdown gives you is the ability to see where the knowledge resides and how it is used in the business. The relationship of knowledge to process to people grounds a knowledge management effort in the business.

Given the success of the author's effort at J.D. Edwards, I certainly believe they are on the right track. Given J.D. Edwards, size one has to wonder if the process scales down to smaller organizations. I would argue that, regardless of the size, the processes apply. The technical architecture may be substantially different for a small organization but that does not change the desired results, and the process proposed by the authors should scale up and down for businesses of all sizes.

Computer-Aided Reasoning: An Approach (Advances in Formal Methods)

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Computer-Aided Reasoning: An Approach (Advances in Formal Methods)
Matt Kaufmann , Panagiotis Manolios , and J Strother Moore
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0792377443

Book Description

Computer-Aided Reasoning: An Approach is a textbook introduction to computer-aided reasoning. It can be used in graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses on software engineering or formal methods. It is also suitable in conjunction with other books in courses on hardware design, discrete mathematics, or theory, especially courses stressing formalism, rigor, or mechanized support. It is also appropriate for courses on artificial intelligence or automated reasoning and as a reference for business and industry.
Current hardware and software systems are often very complex and the trend is towards increased complexity. Many of these systems are of critical importance; therefore making sure that they behave as expected is also of critical importance. By modeling computing systems mathematically, we obtain models that we can prove behave correctly. The complexity of computing systems makes such proofs very long, complicated, and error-prone. To further increase confidence in our reasoning, we can use a computer program to check our proofs and even to automate some of their construction.
In this book we present:

A practical functional programming language closely related to Common Lisp which is used to define functions (which can model computing systems) and to make assertions about defined functions;
A formal logic in which defined functions correspond to axioms; the logic is first-order, includes induction, and allows us to prove theorems about the functions;
The computer-aided reasoning system ACL2, which includes the programming language, the logic, and mechanical support for the proof process.

The ACL2 system has been successfully applied to projects of commercial interest, including microprocessor, modeling, hardware verification, microcode verification, and software verification. This book gives a methodology for modeling computing systems formally and for reasoning about those models with mechanized assistance. The practicality of computer-aided reasoning is further demonstrated in the companion book, Computer-Aided Reasoning: ACL2 Case Studies.
Approximately 140 exercises are distributed throughout the book. Additional material is freely available from the ACL2 home page on the Web, http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/moore/acl2, including solutions to the exercises, additional exercises, case studies from the companion book, research papers, and the ACL2 system with detailed documentation.

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